The Secret of the Anthropologist
by hilarycantdraw
Summary: Brennan is keeping a secret from Booth, a secret that will change her life. This is a slightly AU fanfic based post- Doctor in the Photo, lots of angst  it is pretty dark to start  and eventually romance, key word there being eventually
1. Chapter 1

**This is only my second fanfiction, it's pretty angsty even more than my first one. It takes place sometime after Doctor in the Photo, but really only loosely follows the show, I think it could be considered AU but I'm not completely sure because I'm still new at this =). I really hope that people enjoy this story, please feel free to comment! This story will mostly be Brennan POV, and as I said before it's pretty heavy, but who doesn't like a good dose of angst once in awhile, right?**

Prologue:

It had been well over a year since that fate-less night on the steps of the Hoover Building. It had been six months since everyone had returned from the ends of the world. Temperance Brennan had spent every one of those months hoping that time would heal her loneliness. It hadn't.

She had spent these past months watching how happy her friends were. Angela and Hodgins were busy preparing for their first child. Cam had Michelle and Paul. Sweets and Daisy had gotten back together. And Booth… Booth had Hannah now and his actions made it quite clear that he was too busy to be anything but partners, too busy to be friends, too busy to stop by the lab or grab coffee or have some semblance of a normal conversation. She had been visiting Zack more often, sometimes she felt as though he was the only person who had given her his full attention in weeks.

Her loneliness was what ultimately helped her make her decision. She had wanted a child since the case with baby Andy. She knew that she couldn't bring the topic up again with Booth, so she had talked to Angela. She had been so tempted not to tell anyone, but she needed reassurance that she would make a good parent. She needed evidence to support her logic. She and Angela had talked for hours about her decision and she finally felt confident with herself. Angela had gone with her to find an anonymous donor. She was there when the first two attempts had failed. When it had finally worked they had gone out for celebration smoothies.

And then Brennan had miscarried. She felt as though the world was crumbling around her. It had led to that terrible night in the rain, the night when she had allowed Booth to mangle her heart beyond recognition. She had allowed her emotions to get the best of her and they had spilled out, leaving her vulnerable and raw.

Then he had told Hannah and that was when she knew that they were no longer friends. He had told her once that what was between them was theirs, but he betrayed her by sharing her deepest secret with a woman she barely knew and would never really be friends with.

Brennan had decided to try again and now she had been pregnant for almost three months. Three people knew besides Angela. Her father had come up to visit, and was the unfortunate witness to a particularly bad bout of morning sickness. He had been happy for her, even though she could tell he was slightly wary of her raising a child alone. Once she had explained her thought process, he had seemed excited about the prospect of a biological grandchild, and he called to check up on her frequently, which was something she found comforting. Not that she'd ever admit it.

She had found it necessary to inform Cam after stumbling in to work late everyday for over a week. Cam was as happy for her as Angela was, especially after so recently experiencing the rewards of parenthood herself. She had been cutting Brennan a lot of slack lately, which was nice because it was becoming increasingly difficult to reign in her morning sickness much before nine in the morning.

The last person who knew was Zack. She hadn't told him, but rather he had picked it up from the new way she was carrying herself, the slight spreading of her hips. He seemed to be happy for her, as much as Zack was ever happy for anyone.

She couldn't figure out a way to tell Booth. She was waiting for them to have a moment alone but those seemed to be a rarity these days. The only time they were alone was in his car on the way to a case, and that timing never seemed appropriate. At this point, considering his attitude towards her, he was probably going to be the last person to find out. The thought hurt her. They used to be so close and she missed that easiness between them. She missed having him as her best friend.

She loved Angela to death, but their relationship was different than her and Booth's. Angela didn't seem to understand the meaning of companionable silence, and her bubbly chatter had a way of fraying Brennan's nerves no matter how kind the intention.

So Brennan had been spending a lot of time alone, planning. She was more excited about the prospect of motherhood than she would admit, she really didn't want to get her hopes up again. But she was almost at the end of her first trimester, which was good, much better than last time. When she sat in her apartment at night with a cup of tea replacing her usual glass of wine, she would daydream about being a mother. She had been spending her weekends buying baby supplies of neutral colors with Angela, painting her guest room a pale yellow, and she had been reading a lot of books on pregnancy and motherhood.

She knew she was ready for this, she just wished that she could figure out how to tell her partner.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I posted this then realized that I forgot an author's note, so sorry for any double alerts! I just want to thank everyone who left comments, they were all wonderful and they make my day! Thanks also for the alert/favorite additions, those mean a lot too! Also, I didn't put a disclaimer on the last chapter, but obviously Bones isn't mine, if only, right? I hope you all like this chapter! Feel free to comment!**

Temperance Brennan was running later than usual when she arrived at the lab on Wednesday morning. She walked straight to her desk, eager to get started, and she had already sat down when she noticed the figure sprawled across her couch, snoring lightly.

"Booth?" She said, confused, "Booth," she half-yelled, throwing a pencil at him. He startled awake.

"Geez, Bones," he said, rubbing at his eyes, "why'd you throw a pencil at me?"

"You didn't wake up the first time I said your name," she said, scowling. She wasn't in the best mood and the fact that she couldn't have caffeine didn't help, "Why were you asleep on my couch?"

"I was waiting for you, I wouldn't have fallen asleep if you weren't so late. Why were you late?" Her bad mood was grating against him, he was becoming annoyed too.

She sighed and sunk back against her chair, she wasn't really in the mood for fighting with him, "I'm sorry, I'm just not having the best morning. I woke up late and took forever to get ready and then I was stuck in traffic. I'm sorry that I threw my pencil at you."

He knew that she meant it, she didn't ever apologize unless she did, "It's okay, Bones. I'm here because we have a case," he finished by clapping his hands together, his typical emphatic gesture, and a smile spread across his face.

"You could have called me," she tried to sound annoyed but she was too interested in the case, "what do we have?" Her eyes lit up with curiosity.

"I could have called you, but I was in my car when I got the call and I thought you'd be here. They found a body in the middle of the reflection pool."

"The Washington Monument reflection pool? How did no one notice that?"

"We think that the body was stored somewhere else first and dropped there. It was weighted down but a hand floated to the surface. The body was dismembered, apparently very dismembered," he added that last bit as he recalled that those were the words that the agent who'd called him had used.

Brennan's eyes narrowed, confused, "What's the difference between dismembered and very dismembered?"

"I don't know Bones, I just repeated what I was told. I guess we'll have to go see for ourselves." He hopped to his feet and stood in the doorway, anxious to go.

She smiled at his enthusiasm as she realized that it mirrored her own. They hadn't had an interesting case in far too long, "Give me a couple of minutes to get ready, why don't you go tell Cam?"

They arrived at the crime scene less than half an hour later as the FBI team was pulling the body out of the water. It was wrapped in a plastic trash bad that had been weighted down with cement blocks.

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan," an agent approached them, "would you like to interview the man who first spotted the hand?"

"Sure," Booth said, "I'll go do that while Dr. Brennan begins to inspect the body. I'll be back in a few minutes Bones."

As he walked away Brennan approached Cam, who was beginning to unwrap the body, both women were shocked at what they saw, "Now I understand what Booth meant about 'very dismembered,'" Dr. Brennan said as she inspected the body.

"Wow," Cam breathed, "every single joint was separated." She was right every joint had been detached. The hand that the man had seen floating was not a hand but rather fifteen separate pieces of one.

"I've never seen anything like this before. Even the skull is broken perfectly along the bone lines." She held up a piece and regarded it carefully, "Are there any pieces missing that you noticed?"

"A couple toe pieces aren't here, of course we won't know what's missing for sure until we can do a complete reconstruction." She sighed in frustration, "And that could take days."

"We'll just have to have the entire pool drained," Brennan decided.

"What?" Booth said as he approached the body, "You want to drain the reflection pool? I don't know if we can do that."

"Why not?"

Booth looked at her disbelievingly, "Because it's the Washington Monument's reflection pool, that's why."

"So?" She stared at him blankly, "It's a crime scene and we have body parts missing. Who knows what other evidence could have fallen out."

"Fine," he huffed, "If we don't have any other option…" he trailed off implicatively. When she didn't respond he threw his hands up in defeat, "We're gonna need to drain the pool," he called, "drain it and have it sent back to the Jeffersonian."

"Thank you," Brennan said without looking up at him.

"I'd better not get in trouble for this," he mumbled but she continued to ignore him.

"Hodgins is going to have a field day with this, imagine how much junk is at the bottom of that pool," Cam chuckled, earning a small smile from Brennan while Booth continued to ramble about the consequences of draining the reflection pool.

"What'll the tourists do?" He said to no one in particular.

"The tourists will be thrilled, people love the macabre," Cam said, and Booth hated to admit that she was probably right.

"So, what can you tell me about the bones, Bones?" He changed the subject.

"Judging by the pelvic bones it's a male. I estimate his height to be-"

"In normal people measurements please," he interrupted.

She rolled her eyes, "He was between five-eight and five-ten."

"Do you have an age?"

She shook her head, "It appears that his teeth were pulled, once we reassemble those along with the skull I'll be able to give you a better estimate."

"Okay, so back to the lab then?" She nodded and he clapped his hands together, "All right everyone, let's get this back to the lab!"

Cam and Dr. Brennan began to reassemble the skeleton as soon as they were back at the Jeffersonian with the help of Mr. Nigel-Murray, who was muttering a slew of facts under his breath as he worked on placing the teeth back in the jaw.

Booth began to leave, satisfied that the squints would let him know if they found anything, but he paused for a second. He realized exactly how long it had been since he and Brennan had actually talked, she had seemed really tense all day, "Hey Bones," he called.

"Yeah," she said without taking her attention away from the bones in front of her.

"D'you want to go get drinks tonight? Hannah's off in Egypt, so it can be just us, like the old times," he said, flashing a crooked smile.

She cringed internally at the implication that he was only asking because Hannah was gone, but she figured it would be a good opportunity to tell him she was pregnant. She thought for a second, actually it would be a great opportunity, "Sure, want to meet around nine? Maybe nine-thirty, I'll just tell myself it's nine so I actually get there on time," she smiled slightly, "you know how distracted I get."

He chuckled, "Okay, I'll see you at nine-thirty at the Founding Fathers." He waved before exiting the lab.

As soon as he was gone Brennan made a beeline for Angela's office, "Booth just asked me to go for drinks with him tonight," she said as soon as she was in the door.

"What?" Angela looked up from her drawing, "You can't have drinks."

"Exactly," Brennan said, a smile spreading across her face, "it's perfect. We'll go to get drinks and I'll order a water of an iced tea or something and he'll say, 'Bones aren't you gonna get something stronger?' And I'll tell him then," she trailed off, smiling at her idea.

"Sweetie, you're Booth impression is despicable. It's a good idea though," she noted the proud look on Brennan's face. It was a look she got whenever she succeeded at anything social, "Really, sweetie, I think it will go well."

Brennan nodded, her smile fading, "I'm nervous about how he'll take it."

"I wish I could tell you how it will go, but I'm not sure. You and Booth's history is kind of awkward, it could really go well or badly, you'll just have to play it out."

"I know, I'm just glad that however it goes I will still have my best friend."

"These hormones are really making you sappy, sweetie, but I like it," Angela pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks, Ange. Now I have a skull to go reconstruct for you."

Angela laughed, "Okay I'll see you later. I'll call you tonight to see how it went."

Brennan spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening working on the body. It was around seven when her phone rang.

"Brennan," she answered.

"Hey Bones it's me, listen, is it okay if we do drinks another night? Hannah got back early and we're going to go out to dinner," Booth sounded excited. He obviously hadn't been looking forward to their drinks the way Brennan was.

"Sure Booth," she tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice, "that's fine."

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow then," he hung up without waiting for a response.

Brennan listened to the dial tone for a moment before putting her phone down. She blinked back the tears that were prickling in her eyes at her partner's disregard for her. She turned back to the body in front of her and focused her full attention on the bones, allowing herself to get lost in the details.

Her phone rang again close to eleven, pulling her out of her reverie. "Brennan," she answered tiredly.

"Hey, sweetie, how'd it go with Booth?"

Brennan sank onto the stool behind her and sighed, "It didn't. I'm still at the lab."

"What happened?"

"Hannah got back early, so they went to dinner," Brennan answered, hating the emotion that was creeping into her voice.

"He ditched you completely because she got back a couple days early? Why couldn't you guys have done early drinks? Or drinks after they went to dinner?" Angela's voice was rising angrily, "Why does he act as though his partner and his girlfriend are mutually exclusive?"

"He doesn't mean to Ange," Brennan said, not sure why she was defending him, "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Okay," Angela took a deep breath, "you should come over. We can eat obscene amounts of ice cream and blame it on pregnancy."

Brennan smiled, "Thanks, but I think I'll just go home."

"I want you to come over. You're going to tell me that you're going home and then stay at the lab all night poring over that body. I'm not going to let that happen," she continued stubbornly, you're coming over and we are having a girls night, go pack a bag, we'll have a sleepover, and tomorrow we can drive to work together. I won't take no for an answer."

"Fine," Brennan decided that not having to spend the night alone might be nice, Angela wouldn't let her spend the entire night fretting about Booth, "I'll be there in less than an hour."

"Great," Angela said, "I'll send Hodgins out for Ben and Jerry's."


	3. Chapter 3

**Well this chapter took longer than expected! For some reason it was really hard to get right, so I hope I did a decent job of it! I'm so excited about the response this story has been getting, a lot of alerts, favorites, and comments, thank you all so much! Especially thanks to anyone who commented, it means so much that you take the time to give me your feedback! I have a good idea of how I want at least the next couple chapters to go, so hopefully I'll be able to update quickly as long as I don't get loaded down by school work. I hope you guys like this chapter =)**

Seeley Booth had had a bad night. He was starting to wish that he'd opted out of dinner with Hannah and just gone for drinks with Bones. At least then he wouldn't have spent his night fighting with Hannah. Between the arguing and tense silences, he couldn't choose which were worse. They'd been having problems but lately it seemed as though he couldn't say anything right, and he was getting tired of her constant travelling, she was never home for more than a couple of weeks. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, the fact that his relationship wasn't turning out as he had hoped or the fact that he couldn't find it within himself to really care.

He knew he cared about Hannah. He missed her when she was gone, worried about her safety, and was always relieved when she came back. She was beautiful and funny, they had a great physical relationship, she got on decently with his kid. He knew that she was great, but he couldn't seem to stop arguing with her over inconsequential things. She would snap at him and he would snap back and suddenly they would be fighting. He hated it, but he couldn't seem to change it. He had even considered going to Sweets for advice. He wasn't that desperate though. At least not yet.

He stomped into the lab early that afternoon, trying to reign in his grumpiness and failing miserably.

Hodgins snuck up behind him and called out, "Hey G-Man, I haven't seen you around here for awhile."

Booth felt bad for a second, before his life had become such a train-wreck he and Hodgins had been pretty good friends. He made a mental note to invite him out for a guys' night sometime, "Yeah I've been busy," he said quickly, he definitely wasn't in the mood to discuss his personal life, "listen, I was looking for Angela. Bones texted me and told me she'd finished reconstructing the skull for our latest case and I wanted to see how far Angela's gotten with the sketch. Hacker's really breathing down my neck on this one."

Hodgins looked at him awkwardly for a second, "Yeah, I don't know if that's the best idea. She's sort of mad at you."

Booth blinked, confused, "Mad at me? Why?"

Hodgins shrugged, "I don't really know. Something about upsetting Brennan? I'm not sure exactly what she's on about but Dr. B seemed fine when she came over last night. Just whatever it is, even if you didn't do what she says you did, please just apologize and promise it won't happen again. Just remember, I'm the one who has to deal with the pregnant hormonal tirades. Although, it is nice to not have it directed at me or once." He laughed, "I swear, man, as much as I love Angie I can't wait for this kid to be born already."

Booth sighed, that was just what he needed, someone else to be mad at him, "Better go face the music then."

Hodgins laughed again, "Good luck man. Remember, groveling always helps."

Booth walked over to the artist's office slowly and knocked on the door.

"Booth," she greeted him coolly as she opened it, "what do you need?"

He tried for a charming smile but could tell it fell short, "I wanted to know how you're coming on that sketch."

"I'm close to done. I'll e-mail it to you later." She said, poised to close the door again, but he interrupted.

"Ange, what's going on? You're treating me like I just backed over your favorite cat."

She huffed and tugged him into the office, closing the door behind him. She crossed her arms across her chest, which didn't look comfortable now that she was nearly eight months pregnant, "I'm upset with the way you've been treating Brennan. I know that you two have been through a lot, but you've been acting like she doesn't exist. I know that some of this is her fault too. She told me everything. I know she told you it was okay to move on and I understand why you chose to, but you could at least try to keep your friendship intact. She's trying at least. Don't think I haven't lectured her about all of this too, because I most definitely have. Now, it's your turn. If she can attempt to befriend Hannah, couldn't you at least try to remain friends with her? You are hurting her feelings and she would never tell you that so I am."

Booth looked at her for a second, "I am trying Angela. Do you think that it's easy for me to work with her everyday with everything that happened between us? It isn't, all right? These hurt feelings that she has, they go both ways." He was so tired of feeling guilty for what had happened between him and Brennan that it felt nice to finally vent, "All I did was what she told me to do. I don't know how to fix this."

Angela smiled at him sadly, "I know, I'm sorry about ranting at you. I just needed to get it off my chest. The two of you just really need to talk. Somewhere along the way you guys lost the one thing that made your friendship so great, communication," she put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, "invite her out to lunch. Remind her that, despite how you've been acting lately, you do still want to be friends. She's confused too, Booth. You know how she is with people, you need to talk, just promise me that you'll at least give it a try." Angela batted her eyes at him and smiled charismatically.

Booth smirked and rolled his eyes a bit at the look on her face, "Okay, I promise that I'll talk to her."

"Great, she's in her office," she practically pushed him out the door. "See you later!"

As soon as Booth was out of earshot, Hodgins entered the office, "How'd it go? Did you convince him to talk to Dr. B?"

"Of course I did, you've seen me at my most charming. Who could say no?" Angela walked over to her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"That's true," he replied, kissing her quickly, "it'll be nice to have them start to act like normal people again. I'm sick of them constantly trying to avoid each other."

"Luckily, they have friends like us, who are willing to step in when they're acting like middle- schoolers," Angela kissed him again before heading back to her sketch.

Booth hovered outside Brennan's office for a second, taking a deep breath. He was unreasonably nervous about talking to her, Angela was right, they really needed to fix their relationship. They were partners, they needed to be able to communicate with each other again. He knocked lightly and waited for her reply before pushing the door open.

"Hey," he said quietly, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No," she said, looking up from her computer, "come in."

He walked further into the office, perching himself on the chair in front of her desk, "So, since I bailed on drinks last night I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch today, or tomorrow if you've already eaten. I didn't realize it was after two already."

"We could have lunch today, I had a late breakfast so I haven't eaten. How was your dinner last night?" She asked, standing while logging off her computer.

"Fine," he replied curtly. She raised her eyebrows, but thankfully didn't comment.

"I'm glad we're having lunch. I have something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"Yeah?" He asked, curiously, "What is it?" He held the door open for her as they walked out of her office.

She looked around at the lab, it was swarming with people, "We can talk over lunch," she decided, "I'm starving," she said, giving him a small smile.

"All right," he said, wondering what it was that she didn't want to tell him in the lab, "are we going to the diner?"

"Of course," she smiled again. A real smile this time. Maybe, she hoped, they would be able to rebuild their friendship after all.

**Once again, I hope you guys enjoyed this! I figured a lighter chapter would be good because the next couple chapters will definitely have more tension.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's another chapter! This one went quickly, I normally can't update so fast. Once again I am so excited about the amount of alerts etc. for this story, your enthusiasm makes me all the more enthusiastic, which in turn helps me write faster! I especially love all of the fantastic comments I've been getting, they absolutely make my day! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter =)**

"So, what is it that you have to tell me?" Booth asked once they were sitting down at their table with food in front of them.

Dr. Brennan took a deep breath, she was so nervous about telling him. She decided to just be blunt, true to her nature, "I'm pregnant."

He gaped at her, his mouth opening and shutting a few times with no words coming out, it might have been comic if she wasn't shaking with nerves. Eventually he managed a strangled, "Huh?"

"Pregnant, Booth," she said impatiently, "having a baby."

He continued to stare, dumbfounded, "What? How? When? Why? What?" He couldn't seem to form a coherent question so he settled for barking out a string of single-worded ones.

She took another deep breath and explained almost calmly, "I decided to go through with artificial insemination a while ago. Angela helped me pick an anonymous donor," she added quickly, seeing the obvious question in his eyes, "you know that I have been considering this for a long time."

"Why?" The force of his own voice surprised him, "Why would you choose to do that?"

"Booth, there's no need to yell. I choose this because I want a child. I'm tired of being alone, I want someone to care for. I believe that I would make a great mother, and let's face it, I'm not getting any younger." Her own voice began to rise as she defended herself, this was certainly not the reaction she expected.

"You can't raise a child alone. Children need family, stability. You work all the time, how will you take care of a baby?" He didn't understand what could have made her choose this.

"No," she said as his words stung her, "you don't get to do this. You don't get to sit here and judge me this way. I have a family. I have my father and my brother, my brother's wife and my nieces. I have Angela and Hodgins, they are family to me, and I thought I had you but I was wrong about that, apparently. And I'm not an idiot, I know I won't be able to keep my current schedule, and I don't want to. I love my job, but I want to have a reason to go home at night. Did you ever consider that maybe I only stay at the lab all the time to feel a little bit less alone? I don't like coming home to an empty apartment night after night. I hate it actually. I really don't even need my job, I have more than enough financial resources to raise a child, though I'm sure I will continue working lessened hours.

"I have planned this, Booth. So you cannot judge me. You moved on. This is me moving on." She glared at him, waiting for a response.

He rubbed his temples, trying to process this, "I just… I don't get it Bones."

She was becoming more and more frustrated as the conversation wore on, "Why not? What is so hard for you to understand?"

"I don't understand why you would want to have the child of someone that you've never met. I don't understand why you couldn't just wait to find someone, like a normal person would, just let nature take its course, you know?" He wasn't completely sure what was making him so upset. She was right, it was her choice, but he couldn't let it go until he understood.

"You know how well my relationships work, Booth. It will be much easier for me to raise a child independently. No having to worry about a relationship lasting, no custody battles, how is that so hard to understand?" She raised her eyebrows at him while she waited, not too patiently, for him to answer.

"Why didn't you, you know… talk to me about it?" He asked this without meeting her gaze.

"Are you serious?" She stared at him imploringly, "Do you really think that I'm that socially inept? Even I know that you can't ask a man to have his baby when he is with another woman." She sighed, "Since you seem to be having such trouble with this I'm going to give you two options. One, you can be my friend and support me through this. Two, we can be just partners and not mention this again, although it will affect the type of work we do together. I'll be spending much more time at the lab, and I won't be able to help chase criminals with you anymore." She gave him a small smile but he didn't return it.

"I really don't know what to think about this, Bones. I really don't," he was frustrated that she seemed to expect him to just accept all of this in one sitting.

"All right," she said, working hard to maintain her composure. She was done feeling annoyed and now she just felt tired and disappointed and she didn't want him to notice the tears filling her eyes as she reached for her purse. "I guess I will see you later then," she said, leaving her money on the table.

"Bones, wait," he said as she moved to leave, "please give me a minute. I don't process things as quickly as you do, remember? And this, this is big," he looked at her seriously as she sat back down, "I need some time to think through it. I'm here for you, though, okay? I know I haven't been the best friend lately, but I want to work on that all right?"

She nodded as she blinked back the tears, "I'm glad you still want to be friends. I've missed having you as a friend. And I did want to tell you sooner. I just didn't know how to tell you, or when, we haven't been alone together very much lately. It's understandable of course, you're in a new relationship, but I really did want you to know." A single tear slid down her cheek as she finished, she swiped it away quickly.

"It's okay. I'm glad you did tell me," he flashed her a smile and she relaxed immediately, "so, who else knows?"

She smiled a bit back at him, "Angela knows, obviously. I had to tell Cam, the morning sickness has been making me late, like yesterday for example. That's the real reason I was late. My dad knows, the last time he visited he caught me during one of those episodes of morning sickness," she laughed a bit, "he was as surprised as you were I think. Zack is the only other person I'm sure knows. He figured it out by the slight change in my posture. He could have been a better forensic anthropologist than me someday," she shook her head sadly.

"No one else knows?" He was surprised, and slightly pleased that he wasn't the absolute last to find out.

"Well, Hodgins probably knows. I haven't told him but I doubt Angela's kept it secret from him this long. I'll start telling people next month, after the first trimester."

He nodded, "Have you thought about names yet?" He tried his hardest to make conversation as he still worked on processing the fact that she was actually pregnant.

Now she gave him a real smile, "I like Eleanor for a girl, Ella for short. I don't know about a boy's name yet," she glanced quickly at the clock on the wall, "it's almost three. We should really get back."

"Okay," he said, nodding. He checked his phone quickly as he got up. There was one text message and three missed calls from Hannah, he had forgotten his phone was on silent. The text message said, _Where are you? Why aren't you in your office? Why aren't you answering your phone? Are we still on for dinner tonight? We need to talk._

He groaned quietly, he wasn't looking forward to seeing her.

"What was that for?" Brennan asked, of course she picked up on the smallest hints of his frustration.

"Nothing, Bones, it's nothing. Let's just get back to the lab okay?" She shrugged in response and allowed him to lead her to the car.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter! Thanks again for all of the reviews and alerts etc. you are all the best! I hope you like this one, I really appreciate any feedback!**

"Honey, I'm home," Booth called as he entered the apartment, hoping that humor might lighten the increasing tension between him and Hannah.

"Hey," Hannah called from the bedroom. He rounded the corner and saw that she had a suitcase open on the bed and was packing clothes into it.

"Where are you going?" He asked, confused because she had just gotten back.

"I got called out for a new assignment, there's some major political turmoil in Egypt," she looked at his angry expression, "what's wrong? I tried to tell you earlier but you weren't at the office and you didn't pick up your phone."

"What's wrong? You've barely been back for a week and you're leaving already?" He sighed in irritation.

"Of course I am. This is about my job, Seeley," she replied, shoving some clothes into the suitcase.

"Well what about our relationship? I really wanted to sit down and talk about why we've been at each others' throats lately."

"You knew going into this relationship that I would be travelling. Why are you angry about it now?" her voice rose quickly.

His voice rose as an automatic response, "I'm not angry. I'm frustrated because my girlfriend is hardly ever here and we can't seem to talk without ending up yelling."

"Maybe I'm never here because this relationship is moving way too fast for me," she blurted out. Her statement was immediately followed by a shocked expression from both of them, she hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"You never told me that," he didn't sound angry anymore, just a bit defeated.

"Well, you seemed happy. You're the type of guy who wants to settle down. I wanted to try that. I did, I tried to be that girl for you, the one who wants a perfect family life too. I don't know if I can, though, Seeley." She looked at him sadly.

"Are you breaking up with me?" He was shocked, despite their fighting he hadn't seen this coming.

She nodded, beginning to cry, "I can't do this Seeley. I don't want to settle down. I don't really like kids, I don't think I want any. I want to keep travelling, chasing stories, without having to worry about leaving anyone behind."

"Okay," he choked out hoarsely, "when are you leaving?"

"My flight is tomorrow morning. I'll take all of my things with me and stay at a hotel tonight. I'm sorry Seeley," she looked at him as the tears fell down her face.

"I know," he said, "I shouldn't have pushed you."

"You didn't push me, you were just being who you are. Someday you'll find someone who wants the same things you do. Except I think in your heart you may have found her already," she smiled sadly, "it was great while it lasted, Seeley." She zipped her suitcase, "Maybe I'll see you again someday," she gave him a small peck on the cheek and then she was gone.

He stood staring at his bedroom, unable to fully believe what had just happened. Hannah was gone, just like that. Looking around it was as if she had never been there at all. She didn't have many belongings and had never really made an impact on his space.

He went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of scotch. He drank late into the night until he finally passed out on the couch, not wanting to return to his empty bed.

He was woken up by the phone ringing the next morning at quarter of six.

"Booth," he said groggily.

"Yes, Mr. Booth, I'm calling from Georgetown University Hospital. You are listed as your grandfather's emergency contact. I recommend you come to the hospital immediately, as I'm not allowed to give any details over the phone."

Booth could feel the panic rising in his chest, he was immediately glad he hadn't drank enough to be hung-over, "I'll be there in a few minutes." He hung up the phone and raced to the door, disregarding the fact that he was still in the previous day's clothes. He raced to the hospital, siren and lights blaring and ran to the main reception desk as quickly as possible.

He waited impatiently as the doctor was called and informed of his arrival.

"Mr. Booth?" A young looking doctor called to him.

"Yeah, that's me," he replied curtly, "how's my grandfather?"

"He's in very serious condition. He was brought to the hospital in cardiac arrest, and while we were able to revive him, he slipped into a coma from a lack of oxygen flow to his brain. If you have any other family nearby you may want to inform them, I'm afraid he won't hold on much longer, he'll make it until tomorrow at best, most likely."

"Can I see him?" Booth felt like he had taken a punch to the stomach.

"Of course, follow me." He was led to a room in the ICU where Pops was hooked up to several machines. He looked older than Booth had ever seen him. Booth watched him through the window, not ready to enter. He pulled out his phone and called Jared, leaving a message when his brother, unsurprisingly, didn't answer. Then he called the only other person he could think to, because he didn't want to be alone.

"Brennan," she answered.

"Hi, Bones," his voice sounded strangled, even to his own ears.

"Booth? Are you alright?" She was immediately concerned from the tone of her partner's voice.

"I'm… I'm at the hospital. It's Pops, Bones, he…" Booth tried to maintain his composure, "he had a heart attack and the doctors aren't sure how much longer he'll live," Booth could feel tears threatening. He tried to choke them back down, but his voice broke, "I don't think I can stay here alone, Bones, d'you think you could…" he trailed off as his composure faltered again.

"Where are you, Booth? I'll be there as soon as I can."

Brennan arrived less than half an hour later and she knocked on the door of Hank's room tentatively, "Hey, Booth," she said quietly as he pulled her back into the hallway so they could talk, "how are you holding up?" She still wasn't sure why he had called her and not Hannah.

Booth shrugged, "It's hard. I know he's had a long life but it's still hard." He sank into a chair that lined the wall. Brennan sat next to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I know Booth. I understand. Have you called Jared?"

He nodded, "He just got back to me, he'll be here in an hour or two," Booth placed his head in his hands, "I'm going to have to call Rebecca too. I'm supposed to have Parker this weekend, for a week actually. She's going to be mad, she was tagging along with Brent on a business trip, making a vacation of it. I can't leave here, though, and I can't have Parker here either," Booth pushed his hands through his hair, "maybe they can just leave a day later or something," he pondered out loud hopelessly.

"Booth, I'm sure Hannah could watch Parker. I know she doesn't love kids, but she likes Parker and he's old enough to manage alright," she patted his shoulder almost awkwardly, wanting to comfort him but not really knowing how.

Booth let out a deep sigh, "Hannah left last night. She's not coming back," it still felt like a nightmare, and he wished that it had been.

Brennan was quiet for a second, "I could watch Parker for the night if you're staying here. He could stay in my guest room. If that would be okay with Rebecca."

He looked at her and knew that she meant it, "You'd do that Bones? I'm sure Rebecca would be thrilled, anything so she can go on her vacation."

"Of course I mean it Booth. I'll come with you when you pick him up from school and I'll take him back to my place. I'll make sure he has dinner. Tomorrow he's have to spend the morning at the lab with me, but I'd find something to do with him for the afternoon," she looked at Booth for approval and he nodded for her to continue, "and tomorrow night I'll make dinner for both of you and we'll see how things are going and make more plans from there."

"You're a lifesaver Bones. You really are," he pulled her into a hug and she stiffened with surprise for a second before returning the gesture, wrapping her arms tightly around him, when he let go he said, "do you want to come sit in the room for awhile? I've been talking to him just in case, you know? Pops always liked you, he never really took to Hannah though. If he can hear, he'd be glad that you're here."

"Of course I'll come in with you Booth. I'll stay as long as you want me to, okay?" She took his hand in hers and they walked back into the hospital room together.


	6. Chapter 6

**As usual, I hope everyone likes this chapter, and thanks a million for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites! They make my day =)**

Seeley Booth was having what was possibly the worst day of his life. He'd had many bad days, sure, but within the last twenty four hours his girlfriend had left him and he'd found out that his grandfather was dying. On top of that, once Jared and Padme had arrived Bones had returned to the lab to attempt to finish what she had been working on before Booth's call. As soon as she'd left Jared began to bother him about why Brennan was the one keeping him company and not Hannah. Fortunately, Booth was able to shut his brother up with one stern "I don't want to talk about it" glare.

Booth and Brennan left to pick up Parker in the early afternoon. Parker was thrilled when he saw who his dad was with.

"Bones!" He shouted, throwing his arms around her waist, "I haven't seen you in forever, I missed you!"

Brennan smiled sadly at the boy, "I've missed you too Parker."

"What are we doing tonight dad?" He turned to his father excitedly before his face fell at the look on his face.

"Parker, I have some bad news, bud," Booth said gently, "this morning I got a phone call telling me that Pops was in the hospital," Booth placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "they don't think that he'll make it through the night. You're going to spend the night with Bones because I'm going to stay at the hospital along with Uncle Jared."

Parker's lower lip was trembling, "Can't I visit Pops?"

Booth shook his head slowly, "I don't think you should, Parks. I think it'd be better if your last memory of him was a happy one, not one of him hooked up to all sorts of tubes and machines."

Parker nodded, his eyes were filling with tears he was trying to blink back, and he suddenly hugged his dad, who also looked close to tears. Brennan waited awkwardly as she watched Booth pat his son's shoulder. After a minute Parker pulled away, "So why's Bones watching me? I know that Hannah doesn't like me that much, but I could stay at your apartment and not bother her at all. Not that I mind Bones watching me, I like spending time with her," he added quickly.

Booth saw Brennan throw him a pitying glance, "Hannah left, Parks. She's not coming back this time."

"Oh, sorry dad. Does this mean that we can spend more time with Bones again?" Booth could see the obvious hope in his eyes.

"Sure, buddy. You can start by spending most of the weekend with her."

The three of them grabbed an early dinner at the diner before Booth returned to the hospital and Brennan took Parker home.

"So, Parker, what do you want to do tonight?" Brennan didn't know how to entertain an eleven year old boy, she was just glad that she at least had a television now.

"Can we go swimming? Do you still have my bathing suit here?" Parker asked excitedly, it was obvious that he was trying to hide the fact that he was upset, but Brennan let it go.

"Yes I have your swimsuit, as long as it still fits we can go swimming. If it doesn't fit we can always go buy new ones."

"Cool! Is it still in the closet? I'll go get it," he ran to the hall closet without waiting for a response.

They swam together for over an hour, until Parker began to complain that he was hungry. Brennan had remembered how much the boy ate and she had picked up some snacks earlier in the day.

"Whoa," Parker exclaimed as he looked in the overstuffed snack cabinet, "is this all for me?" He knew from experience that Dr. Brennan never at anything that wasn't organic, and none of the food he was staring at was anything close to organic.

"Yes, I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got a large selection," Brennan looked at the boy, waiting for approval.

"Awesome," he said, grabbing a brightly colored box and opening it quickly, "thanks, Bones."

Brennan smiled at his use of his father's nickname for her, "No problem, Parker. So would you like to watch a movie? Your father insisted once that I sign up for something called Netflix. I've only used it a couple of times, but you can choose whatever movie you'd like."

"Really?" Normally he just watched whatever was on TV, "I can choose anything?"

"Yes, any movie you want, just as long as it isn't rated R," she left the room and came back with her laptop, handing it to him, "here, you can check the website to find what you want."

He browsed through the page for a moment before his eyes lit up, "Could we watch _Harry Potter_? Dad says those movies always put him to sleep, but I like them."

"Sure," Brennan said, going to order the movie, "what is it about?"

"Wizards," he responded simply.

"Wizards?" She asked skeptically.

"Yeah, Bones. Wizards, they do magic and ride on broomsticks and it's so cool!"

"Magic doesn't exist, you know that," her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Duh, that's why it's called fantasy," Parker said as they sat on the couch, waiting for the movie to begin. Brennan just shrugged, if Parker liked it she would watch it with him.

When the movie ended over two hours later, Parker turned to her excitedly, "Wasn't it cool?"

Brennan nodded, while unrealistic the story had been somewhat endearing. Anthropologically, it was a story based on the familiar theme of growing up and finding yourself.

"Maybe tomorrow we could watch the second one."

"How many are there?"

"There are seven books, but so far only six and a half movies so far."

"Are they all so long?" Brennan was surprised that they could hold his attention.

"The books are longer, the movies miss a lot, even though they are all more than two hours."

"And they are popular?"

"Are you kidding?" Parker's eyes were wide, "Everyone's heard of Harry Potter, they're super popular. I can't believe you haven't heard of them before."

"I guess I'm out of the loop," she had picked up that phrase from Booth, "we should be getting to bed soon," she said, glancing at the clock. "You're going to be coming to the lab with me tomorrow if that's okay. It will be just for the morning, you can choose what you want to do in the afternoon."

"Okay, goodnight Bones," he gave her a hug before heading to the guest room, "uh, Bones?" he called as he stood in the doorway, "Why is there baby stuff in here? Are you having a baby?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes," she said reluctantly, she had forgotten to put everything in the closet before Parker had arrived, "I am, but not many people know yet, okay?"

"Okay, that's cool. I think that you'll be a great mom," his sincerity brought tears to her eyes.

"Thanks Parker, that means a lot."

He shrugged, "Well it's the truth. Goodnight, Bones." He gave her a small wave as he shut the door. She stood for a minute, thinking about Parker's words to her. It was nice hearing the boy she'd known for six years voice his confidence in her parenting abilities. She got her hormonal emotions under control and went to bed.

It was nearly one in the morning when she heard movement in the apartment. She got up, wondering if Parker was looking for something, but it wasn't Parker that she found. It was Booth.

"What are you doing here?" She asked quietly as she spotted him sitting on the couch.

"The official time of death was eleven forty-three," he stared into his hands as she sat next to him, "Jared and Padme got a hotel room. Jared and I will begin making arrangements tomorrow," he leaned his head back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. Brennan could tell he was trying not to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Booth," she whispered as she placed her hand on his shoulder, unsure of what else to say.

He nodded, "Thanks, Bones," he sighed, "I came here because I didn't want to go back to my empty, lonely apartment, not when I knew where my family was. So, I came here. I hope you don't mind that I let myself in."

"I gave you the key, Booth, of course I don't mind you using it."

"I'm going to miss him, Bones. He was more of a father than my old man ever was…" his voice cracked as he trailed off and Brennan surprised him by pulling him into a hug. He hugged her back tightly and she felt a few tears seep into her shirt where his head rested against her shoulder. They sat like that for a long time and eventually they both fell asleep on the couch, still holding onto each other.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again to everyone for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites! They make me wicked happy! I hope you all enjoy this chapter =)**

Brennan woke up first the next morning. As she slowly extricated herself from Booth's arms, she heard Angela's voice echoing unbidden in her head, _Awkward. Awkward. _Very_ awkward_. She slid off the couch, stretching slowly as Booth rolled over, curling against the back of the couch. She glanced at the clock, it was almost seven in the morning. She made her way into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. She figured that she'd make breakfast for Booth and Parker before waking them up. She opened the fridge and was immediately assaulted by the scent of leftover Thai from earlier in the week. She clapped her hand over her mouth and made a beeline for the bathroom as morning sickness took over.

Booth was awoken by the terrible sound of his partner's retching. He went immediately to the bathroom, leaning next to her. He held her hair back and rubbed her back in small circles, ignoring her demands for him to leave. He had never been squeamish when it came to sickness, whenever Parker was sick Rebecca would bring him to Booth's because she could never handle vomit, so he was somewhat used to it. Eventually she stopped trying to get him to leave, it took too much effort and it obviously wasn't working.

"You okay Bones?" He asked when she finally flushed the toilet and clambered to her feet in search of her toothbrush.

She nodded as she scrubbed her teeth, "I wanted to make breakfast for you and Parker," she said hoarsely, "but as soon as I opened the fridge the smell of some leftovers hit me. This morning sickness is terrible. I'm sorry you had to see that."

"It's fine, Bones. Why don't you go sit in your room? I can make breakfast for Parker and I and I'll bring you in some toast and tea."

"You don't have to do that Booth. I can make breakfast," he noticed that she seemed to turn slightly green at the prospect of smelling food again, "you're my guests."

"Exactly, you're being nice enough to let us stay here. I can return the favor by making breakfast," he gave her a warning look as she began to protest, "Bones, I remember what it was like when Rebecca was pregnant with Parker, she couldn't be around any food in the morning either. Go lay down, I've got breakfast covered."

"Fine," she agreed, knowing that he wouldn't back down, plus she knew that he was right and she didn't want to find herself bent over the toilet for a second time that morning, "I bought all the ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes, I was going to make those and some scrambled eggs. The recipe's on the counter and the ingredients are in my cabinets, they shouldn't be too hard to find."

He smiled at her thoughtfulness at having bought food specifically for Parker, "I'll manage fine, Bones. Now go lay down," she rolled her eyes at him ordering her to bed, but she made her way to her room anyhow.

Booth was standing at the stove, flipping a pancake, when Parker wandered in, obviously following the smell of food.

"Dad? What are you doing here? Where's Bones?" His still sleepy voice was tinged with confusion.

"Morning, buddy, I came by late last night, after leaving the hospital," Booth watched the sadness that passed over his son's face as he realized what that meant, so he quickly answered his other question, "Bones is in her room, she wasn't feeling great this morning, so I offered to make breakfast. Do you think you could do me a favor and bring her the cup of tea and plate of toast that's on the counter? The tea should be ready by now."

"Sure, dad," Parker said, picking up the food, "was she sick because of the baby?" He asked curiously, recalling how a boy in his class had talked about how sick his mom was in the morning before she had his baby brother.

Booth nearly dropped the spatula he was holding, "She told you about that?" He was surprised, he thought it was supposed to be a secret.

"Yeah, 'cause I asked her why the guest room had baby stuff in it."

"Oh," Booth said, "well, yeah, that's why she was sick."

Parker nodded in acceptance before heading into Bones room.

"Good morning, Parker," she said, setting aside the book she was reading.

"Morning Bones, dad asked me to bring you this," he held out the toast and tea.

"Thanks Parker, tell your dad thanks too," she said, taking her breakfast.

"No problem, Bones. It's too bad that the baby makes you sick," she raised her eyebrows at his comment, surprised that Booth had explained it to him.

"It's okay, it actually is a sign that the baby is doing well, so it is reassuring despite how uncomfortable it is."

"Weird," Parker said, "well I'm gonna go eat now, are we still going to the lab later?"

"Yes, after we both eat and get dressed we'll head over," she smiled at the hopeful tone of his voice. She knew that, unlike his dad, Parker enjoyed spending time around the lab and he liked learning about science.

"Cool," he said as he left the room and flashed a trademark Booth smile.

Brennan definitely felt better after eating, and she slowly walked out to the kitchen with her dishes. She found Booth cleaning up from breakfast, and Parker was in the living room watching cartoons.

"Are you doing better?" Booth asked.

"Yes, thank you again for breakfast," she said as she put her dishes in the sink.

"Anytime, Bones, I'd better be leaving now though. I've still got to go shower and change before I meet up with Jared."

"All right, let me know later what time you'll be back to get Parker. If you want to eat with us you can, I'm planning on making macaroni and cheese," she offered, knowing how much both of the Booth boys enjoyed that particular meal.

"I'd love to join you for dinner, Bones. I'll try to get here a little after six, okay?" He answered enthusiastically.

"That's fine," she said, smiling at his reaction.

Once Booth left, Brennan and Parker got ready and made their way to the lab. As soon as they arrived, Parker took off looking for Hodgins, because Brennan had explained that Angela was also pregnant and had begun to take the weekends off to make sure she didn't become too stressed. When Parker was younger, he loved spending time with the artist, but he also liked her husband and all of the cool bugs that he collected. As Parker walked off towards Hodgins' office, Brennan went to find Cam.

Instead, Cam found her. "Dr. Brennan," she called as she approached.

"Good morning, Dr. Saroyan," Brennan answered, turning around.

"Good morning," Cam answered before asking the question that had been plaguing her all night, "how's Booth doing. He called me late last night and told me what was going on, and that he was heading to your place. I've tried calling him again but his phone is off."

Brennan frowned. Booth rarely turned his phone off, "I don't really know how he's doing. He didn't seem to want to talk about it. He's certainly upset though, but he's hiding it well," she sighed, "I wish I could help, but I'm not sure how. I don't want to get in the way."

Cam nodded, "I know what you mean. Booth's very private about things like this, but Hank meant so much to him. And you are helping," Cam added seriously, "trust me. When someone is grieving the small gestures mean the most. Your spending yesterday at the hospital to keep him company, for example. Offering to take Parker is a huge help too, I'm sure. That kid idolizes you, you know," she said with a smile. _Like father, like son_, she thought, "Just keep doing the little things, show Booth that you're here for him. He'll appreciate it."

"Thanks, Cam," Brennan said with a small smile.

"You're welcome. Now," she switched quickly into work mode, "D. Hodgins found some particulates on the bones from the reflecting pool that could point you to the weapon," with that they fell into their well-honed routine of murder solving, putting their out of work concerns aside until later.


	8. Chapter 8

**As usual thanks so much for the great response to this story! I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I've been super busy with school work this week, so you have Mother Nature to thank for this chapter, it would never have gotten finished if not for this snow day! It's really the only good thing about snow in April. I hope you all enjoy this! Oh and happy April Fool's day!**

The rest of the morning went by quickly. Once they left the lab, Brennan and Parker went to the park for the rest of the afternoon. There, Parker tried to teach her how to play baseball, and he laughed every time she missed, which was often, but he cheered for her as soon as she finally hit one. After they finished at the park, they went back to Brennan's apartment to start dinner.

Booth showed up a little after six, and the entire pan of macaroni was gone before seven. Brennan was always amazed by how much the two Booths could eat. They left not long after dinner, and Brennan felt a certain twinge of sadness as she watched them go. She enjoyed spending time with the two of them, it reminded her a bit of her own family before they all left her.

She didn't hear from them the next day, she figured that Booth was making up for missing a day with Parker and they were probably doing something with Jared since Parker rarely got to see his uncle.

On Monday afternoon she was studying the bones of their most recent victim when she heard one of the security guards approach the platform, "Dr. Brennan, there's someone here to see you," he said. She looked up at him, confused. She never had visitors at the lab, but she followed him out the sliding glass doors anyway.

She was surprised to see that it was Parker waiting for her, along with a man and a boy she didn't recognize, "Bones," Parker said, running towards her, and pulling her into a hug.

"Parker, what are you doing here?" She asked as soon as he pulled away.

When he didn't answer the question, the man stepped forward, "Hi Dr. Brennan, I'm Robert Clifford," he introduced himself, shaking Brennan's hand, "Parker was supposed to be coming home with my son Evan after school today. However, when we drove by here, Parker insisted that we stop because this is where his dad's friends work and he would rather stay here for the afternoon. So I agreed, because he seemed upset, and as soon as we got out of the car he led me here." He shrugged helplessly. To be completely honest, the kid's father intimidated him. If the FBI agent's kid wanted to stop at the Jeffersonian and talk to a famous scientist, he certainly wasn't about to refuse. He was honestly surprised that all of the guards seemed to know Parker and had allowed them straight through.

Brennan looked over at Parker, who was studying the floor intently. Despite his enthusiastic greeting, he did look like something was bothering him, "It's fine," Brennan said, wrapping an arm around Parker's shoulder, "he can spend the afternoon here. We love having him around the lab. I'll call Agent Booth and let him know to pick Parker up here," she noticed that a look of relief crossed Robert's face when she offered to tell Booth, "I'm sure he won't mind," she added to reassure him.

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan. We're sorry for bothering you," Robert said as he and his son turned to leave.

"It's no bother at all," she replied, "thanks for dropping him off." She kept her arm around Parker and steered him into the lab, towards her office. "What's going on, Parker?" She asked as they both sat down on her couch.

He shrugged, "I don't want to talk about it," he replied without meeting her eyes.

"Okay," she could understand not wanting to share feelings, "just let me know if you decide you want to talk, all right?" Once he nodded, she continued, "Now, why don't you go to Angela's office and see if she'll share some of her snacks, she has a whole hoard of them since her pregnancy makes her hungry quite often. Then come back here and do whatever homework you have, and once you're done with that I'll be on the platform working one some bones, I'll find something for you to do."

"Okay," Parker answered quietly, as he left the office.

Once he was gone, Brennan picked up her phone to call Booth.

"Hey, Bones. What's going on?" He answered.

"Hi Booth, I just wanted to tell you that Parker was just dropped off here. He apparently begged his friend's father to leave him here for the afternoon."

"What? Bones, he knows that he can't just bother you at work. He told me he wanted to go to Evan's house," Booth sighed on the other end of the line.

"It's fine, Booth, really. He seems upset, and if spending the afternoon here helps, he can stay. He's always welcome to spend time here. You can pick him up later, I'll make sure that he finishes his homework."

"Thanks Bones, you're the best. I should be there in a couple of hours, I'll see you then."

"Bye Booth," she hung up the phone and headed back to the platform. Over an hour later she looked up to see Parker waiting hesitantly at the bottom of the stairs. She quickly swiped him through, the bones she was working with were clean, and there was nothing else that he might find too gross around.

"Did you finish your homework?" She asked, he nodded, "Good job. Do you want to help me…" she trailed off, noticing the tears that were gathering in his eyes, "Parker, what's wrong?" She asked as she gently smoothed his hair back from his face.

He sniffled, "Today when we were in the car, Evan started talking about how he and his grandpa are going fishing this weekend. It made me think of Pops because we used to go fishing," he started to cry harder and Brennan knelt down, pulling him into a hug, he pressed his face into the crook of her neck and she could feel his hot tears hitting her skin. She rubbed his back gently as he continued to cry, "I wish my mom was here." He said through a sob, "I've never seen my dad cry and I don't want him to think that I'm not tough."

"Your dad would never think that," she said soothingly, "he understands emotions better than anyone else I know. Being sad isn't showing weakness, it's showing that you're strong enough to admit that you're hurting and that you're brave enough to let someone help you through it. Your dad knows that and he would never ever judge you for crying, because it is normal to be upset, okay?"

She felt him nod and he hugged her tighter as she continued rubbing circles over his back.

When Booth walked in, that was the first thing he saw. He watched his partner hold his son, comforting him the way she'd comforted Booth himself just a couple nights ago. He hung back, staying out of their sight, not wanting to interrupt the tender moment they were having. He watched as Parker slowly removed his head from Brennan's shoulder. A small smile rose to Booth's face as he watched Brennan gently wipe the tears from his son's face before planting a small kiss on his forehead.

Brennan stood up slowly, "Why don't you go to the bathroom and rinse your face with some cool water? Then grab your stuff from my office and meet me back up here, your dad should get here soon, okay?"

"Thanks Bones," he said, and he gave her another hug before heading towards the bathroom.

Booth mentally counted to ten before he climbed up to the platform, "Hey Bones, where's Parker?"

She raised her eyebrows at him, "He's in the bathroom, but you know that because you've been standing watching us for the past five minutes," she smirked.

Booth rolled his eyes but smiled a bit, "You don't miss anything do you? So what's up with Parker, did he tell you what was going on?"

She nodded as she noted the concerned tone of his voice, "He was upset because his friend was talking about spending the weekend fishing with his grandfather. That's what made Parker so upset."

"Why didn't he come see me?" Booth wondered out loud, his son had showed up at the Hoover unexpectedly before, he wouldn't have minded.

"He was afraid that if you saw him cry you wouldn't think he was tough anymore. Of course, I told him that that wasn't true, that you would never think less of him for being sad. Anthropologically speaking his reasoning makes sense, though. Boys around Parker's age are just beginning to feel the need to have society view them as young men rather than children-" she stopped as Booth interrupted her.

"It's okay Bones. I get it. Sometimes kids need a motherly touch when they're upset," he noticed the slight blush that crept across her cheeks, revealing the pride that she felt at the fact that he considered her to be motherly.

"Dad!" Parker's voice called out as he approached the platform.

"Hey buddy," Booth walked down the stairs and ruffled his son's hair, "did you have a good afternoon hanging out with the squints?" Parker nodded and Booth continued, "Do you want to grab dinner at the diner? Maybe we could even convince Bones to leave work early to join us," he threw a charm smile towards his partner who was still on the platform.

When Parker mirrored the smile, she laughed, knowing that she was helpless to resist, "Just give me a few minutes to finish up, okay?" She said and both of their smiles widened in response.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them left the lab. The adults were listening as Parker chattered on about school, obviously feeling better. Brennan smiled as Parker slipped his hand into hers. She realized that the more time she spent around Parker, the more excited she seemed to be at the prospect of having her own child.


	9. Chapter 9

**Super huge apologies for the delay in this update! I have had a ridiculously busy past couple of weeks, and this was just a plain hard chapter to write, like really really hard and I'm not completely sure why. As always I love any sort of feedback. And I'd like to give a quick shout-out to my fantastic friend Stefanie, who is always willing to read my writing, including my awful lit analysis essays, and she gives me snacks and whenever I'm frustrated with my writing, she reminds me that I don't suck. So with that little shout out complete, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and it was worth the wait!**

The wake for Hank was held on Wednesday night. It was a small gathering at Booth's apartment, almost all family. Blood family and lab family, not that anyone made a distinction between the two anymore. Everyone stood around, talking quietly, sharing stories about Hank, and Brennan found herself wishing that she had known him better.

She watched both Booth and Parker carefully from across the room. She saw Booth lean down to pull his son into a hug as Parker's eyes began to fill with tears. She knew that Booth was reassuring him that it was all right to cry, and that no one would think less of him for it. She caught his eye, and she gave him what she hoped was a small reassuring smile.

Everyone left fairly late, since the funeral was not until noon the next day. As soon as people began to leave, Brennan began to clean up.

"Bones, you can go home. It's been a long day and you should be resting," Booth said when he found her doing dishes in the kitchen.

"Booth, I'm fairly certain that I can do the dishes without harming myself," she said, trying to joke.

"Really, you can go. I can finish the rest of this," he said, picking up a few dishes to dry them.

She shook her head, narrowing her eyes at him, "No. Remember the other morning when you insisted on helping me? Well now I'm returning the favor. So deal with it," she looked quickly at him to see if he would challenge her. He didn't and they stood in silence as she washed the dishes and he dried them and put them back in the cabinets.

"Is Parker in bed?" She asked after a few minutes of quiet washing.

Booth nodded, "He fell asleep the second he crawled into bed. This has all been really tough on him." Booth finished drying the last dish and he walked over to sit on the couch, motioning for her to follow. She sank down next to him, removing the heels that had been pinching her feet all evening before settling back against the couch. There was more silence as they sat, neither knowing what they should say. After a few minutes, Brennan found herself nodding off.

"Bones, it's past midnight. If you want to crash here tonight you can, you look exhausted." She considered it for a second before finally agreeing, she really wasn't in the mood to drive home. He disappeared to his bedroom for a moment, coming back with sweat pants and a large tee shirt, "Here you can wear these."

She thanked him and went to the bathroom to change, and once she was done he went to take a shower. While he was showering, she found herself unable to sleep. She was lying on the couch staring at the ceiling when she heard quiet footsteps behind her, the shower was still running so she quietly called, "Parker?"

"Oh, hi Dr. Bones, I didn't realize that you were still here. I was just going to get some water because I can't sleep." He paused for a second, before hesitantly asking, "Do you think you could tell me a story? When I was little mom always used to tell me stories when I couldn't sleep."

"Um," Brennan paused for a second, unsure what kind of story she could tell, "I suppose so. Is there any particular story you want to hear?" She followed him back to his room, the glass of water all but forgotten. She hesitated before sitting on the bed with him when he patted the empty space beside him.

"Tell me a story about you and dad," he said simply, as he rested his head against her shoulder.

Brennan thought for a moment before beginning to speak, "How about the story about the first Christmas your dad and I spent together?" Parker nodded enthusiastically so she continued, her hand absently stroking through his hair, "Well, it was the day before Christmas eve, and we were supposed to be at the Jeffersonian Christmas party, when your dad came in with a case. It was an older case, but we started to work it anyhow, mostly because I dislike large social gatherings.

"Hodgins and Zack were examining the body when Zack cut into the bone, releasing contagious spores, and the lab went into lockdown. None of us were allowed to leave because Hodgins had been drinking an eggnog instead of wearing his mask and they were afraid he had inhaled spores and he could have spread them to us. So a bunch of workers in haz-mat suits came in to give us injections in case we had been infected.

"Your dad had an adverse reaction to the injection and he spent the rest of the night acting as though he was under the influence of drugs. He was amazed by how shiny everything in the lab was. He basically ran around the lab like an overgrown child." Brennan paused as Parker giggled, "But once it wore off the next day he was just upset that he couldn't see you. He did see you eventually, though. Do you remember that? I was there when he saw you at Wong Foo's and gave you the robot that Zack had made. You were so small then, I can't believe how quickly you seem to have grown. That was a nice Christmas, though, it was the first one in years that I didn't spend alone at some remote dig site," she trailed off as she realized that Parker was snoring quietly. During her story he had curled against her, she didn't have the heart to wake him again, so she settled closer to him before closing her eyes and falling quickly asleep.

Booth stood at the doorway, he had heard almost the entire exchange between his partner and his son. He wondered how she could possibly think that she wouldn't make a good mother.

The next morning Brennan quickly left for her apartment after leaving a pot of coffee brewing in Booth's apartment. She got ready slowly, pulling on a simple black dress and attempting to eat some toast despite her nausea.

Brennan got to the service almost exactly on time and sat toward the back of the church with Hodgins and Angela. After the service there was a small burial ceremony. Rebecca had returned a couple days early in early to be with Parker, who was pressed into her side in a tight hug. Booth stood alone at the front of the group, his shoulders hunched as he stared down at the casket. It was a sight that made Brennan's heart wrench, and she stepped forward silently and held out her hand. He took the offered hand gratefully and her other hand raised to rub soothing circles on his arm.

"Thanks Bones," he said quietly, glad to no longer have to stand there alone.

"Anytime," she answered, leaning her head gently against his shoulder.

After the funeral, the two of them went to the diner alone, and had a late silent lunch, taking comfort in each other's company. When they finished eating, he watched her leave the diner before he left for his own car. He returned to his apartment where there was a bottle of whiskey waiting for him to come drown his sorrows.

It was around eight that night and Brennan was sitting on her couch with a book and a cup of tea, the apartment silent aside from the sound of the rain outside. She wasn't expecting any visitors but she wasn't completely surprised when she heard a knock at the door, which she opened to find a soaking wet Booth.

"What are you doing here?" She asked at the same moment he asked, "Can I come in?"

She stepped back and let him in, a small puddle began to form at his feet, and she found the clothes he had loaned her the night before, "You can go put these on, I haven't had time to wash them but it'd be better than standing there wet and freezing." He accepted her offer silently, heading for the bathroom with the clothes. He hung his wet garments over her shower rod before returning to the living room, where they stood, watching each other uneasily.

"What are you doing here, Booth?" She asked again, hoping to get an answer this time.

"I was sick of being alone. I thought you might be too." He responded simply and she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Are you drunk?" She asked, surprised, drinking alone was not typical Booth behavior.

"Maybe. Don't worry though. I took a cab here."

"Why? Why come here?"

"Because I didn't want to be alone tonight, Bones," he took a step towards her. "I couldn't be alone," one more step and she was wrapped in his arms and he was kissing her.

"Booth," she took a quick step back, "what are you doing?"

He looked at her with dark, half-crazed eyes, "Aren't you the one who is constantly singing the praises of fulfilling biological urges. You know, one night stands, no strings attached?"

She felt tears sting her eyes, "So you're here to use me?" When he didn't immediately answer she knew she was right, "Booth, you know how I feel about you and you are trying to use me?" Her voice rose to a yell.

"No, Bones, I just, I don't know. I shouldn't have come here. I just thought… I didn't think." He sank onto the couch, resting his head helplessly in his hands, "What did I do?" He whispered, so low she barely heard it.

She was blinking back tears when she spoke again, "I can't believe you Booth, I know you're having a hard time right now, but I just…" She walked towards her bedroom without looking at him again. "You can sleep on the couch tonight but I don't expect to see you here in the morning." With that she closed her door firmly behind her and slid to the floor against it, wondering how it was possible for things to go so wrong so quickly.

He could hear that she was crying, but he knew that he was the cause, because he was a huge idiot. All of the progress they had made towards being friends again he had ruined in minutes. So he resigned himself to laying on the couch, allowing her every sob to cut through him until he wasn't sure if he had ever felt as broken as he did in that moment.


	10. Chapter 10

**I apologize for the delay in updates, as finals draw closer I have less and less free time. But I only have 2 weeks left of school (yay!) , and I'll post more frequently during the summer. I hope this chapter was worth the wait, it was a hard one to write so reviews are majorly appreciated!**

Brennan woke up the next morning and sat for a second, remembering what had happened the night before. She rubbed at her eyes, still sore from crying, and she knew that she had overreacted. She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, she never cried like that, never lost control. Sure her emotions had been unbalanced lately but that didn't justify having a breakdown. She sighed, knowing that she would have to deal with this eventually. She could hear snoring from the living room, she looked at the clock and noticed that it was barely five-thirty. She got ready quietly, she wasn't quite ready to deal with Booth yet, she needed time to process her own emotions first. She stood at the end of the couch and watched him sleep for a minute, not sure what to do. She didn't want him to be late for work, but she really needed to think before talking to him, reign in her emotions before they got out of hand again.

Then she spotted his phone on the coffee table and knew what she would do. She picked up the phone and set an alarm, giving herself a ten-minute head start. On top of his phone she left a short note, asking him to come to the Jeffersonian later that afternoon so that they could talk.

As soon as she got to work she headed straight for her office and dove into her stack of paperwork while picking at a fruit salad, hoping to stave off her morning sickness.

Booth woke up with a start at the sound of his cell phone blaring. He shut it off quickly and looked around the apartment, which was obviously empty. Of course it was. But there was the note left on the table, and as he read it relief coursed through him. She was offering to talk. She wasn't shutting him out completely, which he would have deserved. He was such an idiot. He shook his head, dragging him off of the couch to head back to his apartment before work.

Brennan worked diligently through the morning, only stopping when she realized it was nearly noon and she was actually hungry. She went to the diner and ordered a salad for take-out, adding a small order of fries at the last second. She brought her lunch to the mall and sat on the bench next to the coffee cart while she ate and thought. She thought about the events of the previous night, trying to figure out what had bothered her so much. Booth had been right, she had always insisted that sex was simply sex, relieving biological urges. She had even thought about having sex with him multiple times, how could she not have? So what was wrong?

She knew deep-down what it was that bothered her so much, what had made her snap. No-strings sex was her belief, yes, but it wasn't his. She knew that Booth didn't believe in just sex. He believed in making love. How many times had he explained that to her through the years? She had thought that she'd accepted the fact that he wasn't in love with her, but she knew that on some level she had held out hope. Hope that him dating Hannah had been some sort of fluke. That he never did move on the way he said he would. That maybe she was enough for him, that she didn't have to change. Last night had proved all of that long.

If he did love her, he wouldn't have tried to use her for sex. If it had been any man but Booth she would never have thought twice about giving in. Maybe if she had never told Booth all of her regrets that night in the rain she would have agreed. If he had no clue that she cared about him as more than a partner or a friend. That was what had really done it, the fact that he not only knew that she cared about him, but that he was willing to exploit that, that's what made her react the way that she did. She had spent the entire week doing everything she could to help him, but that was where she drew her line, in the exact same place he had crossed his.

She reluctantly finished her lunch and headed back to the lab. She knew that she had to talk to Booth, maybe there had been some ulterior reasoning behind his actions. Maybe her evidence was skewed in some way. _Or maybe_, she thought sadly, _Maybe I should just stop hoping. Hoping never leads to anything but pain_. Hoping led to her waiting by her window every Christmas eve for years, in case her parents returned. Hope was what caused her to spend her days in Maluku dreaming of coming home and telling Booth how she felt. Hope let her down at every turn.

She entered her office, still absorbed in the melancholy thoughts swirling through her mind, and she almost jumped when she noticed that Booth was lounging on her couch.

"Hey, Bones," he said, sitting up nervously.

"Booth," she gave him a small nod of acknowledgement before sitting down at her desk.

"Bones, look, I'm so sorry about last night," he would have continued to apologize, but she cut him off.

"No, you shouldn't apologize." She said, drawing in a deep breath, "I may have overreacted some, and I'm sorry about that. I've been more emotional than usual lately and I guess that was the stick that snapped the camel's back." As he watched her collect her thoughts, he decided it was best not to correct her. "Last night was something I needed to see, a wake-up call if you would. It was the last piece of evidence that I needed to prove a certain fact to myself."

He didn't like the sound of this, "What type of evidence are you talking about Bones?"

She looked at him and he could see the walls rebuilding behind her eyes, the walls that he had worked so hard to bring down. "It was enough evidence to prove something that I suspected all along, love doesn't exist."

His eyes widened, "What?"

She remained clinical, despite the fact that it took all of her effort to appear unconcerned, "Last night gave me the final piece of evidence that I needed to conclude that love, as you define it, is nonexistent. A fantasy. Something that only exists in stories. Love is ephemeral, like I always thought." She shrugged and turned to her computer, focusing her attention on it to keep her emotions at bay.

So she didn't see the devastated look on Booth's face, "I don't understand."

"Fine," her eyes flashed with emotion, but it was too fleeting for him to comprehend. "First piece of evidence, you claim that love is eternal, but less than a year after claiming that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me, you decided that you were in love with Hannah. Second piece of evidence, love is supposed to be unconditional, but as soon as I warned you that I couldn't change, you told me that you had to move on. Third, you have spent years lecturing me that you don't have sex with people you care about, that sex is more than biology, that when you care about someone it is _making love_. Therefore, I could only conclude," she stopped as her voice broke and she looked away from him, tears pooling unwelcomingly in her eyes. "I can only conclude," she stopped again, feeling choked up.

"You could only conclude that I don't care about you." She didn't look at him but she could hear how hurt he sounded, "But, Bones, what about everything else between us? You know I care about you, everything we've been through…" he trailed off as she shook her head.

"I know you _cared_ about me. Before the night at the Hoover, I was sure of it. Now though… Evidence from years ago is simply not as relevant as the evidence that has been staring at me these past months. By the constants that you yourself taught me, you have proved that you do not love me. I realize that you didn't take my balking at the idea of a relationship well, but you had never given up easily on anything before. I didn't know that one second of fear would scare you off." She still avoided looking at him.

He simply gaped at her, unable to fault her logic. As always, she had drawn the rational conclusion from the evidence that she had been presented with. He hadn't done it on purpose, but he had convinced the one person he cared for the most that he didn't care at all, "Bones, I do care about you, more than you realize. I never wanted to push you or make you feel uncomfortable because I care. Please, let me show you that, let me give you more evidence. Please don't shut me out."

She thought for a moment, before nodding slightly, "Just… I need time to think, to process. Let's just try to get our friendship back for now. Then if that works we can go forward from there." She looked at him, finally, and he could see that even this small offer was difficult for her, he could see that he needed to regain her trust.

So, he put-on the most charming smile he could manage and offered her his hand, "Friends?" He asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.

She gave him a small smile in return and took the offered hand, "Friends." She affirmed, and they shook on it.


	11. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

**Firstly, I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed that this isn't an actual chapter. Secondly, I realize that I've left this story hanging for much longer than I intended. I definitely plan to finish it, I'm just struggling with new ideas, the whole finale really threw my muse for a loop in regard to this story. Which leads me to the most important part of this author's note, is there anyone reading this story who'd like to become my beta and help me bounce around a few ideas? I know how I ultimately want to end this, I even have an epilogue written, I just need some help with the middle. So if anyone's interested please let me know, either way I should have something new reasonably soon. Thanks to everyone who is still interested in this story for your patience.**

**Here's hoping my muse soon returns from vacation-**

**Hilary =)**


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